Chapter 156
After school, I went to the crime scene to investigate the murderer .
“It’s turning into quite the uproar here . ”
I uttered to myself while watching the crime scene from a far place . I couldn’t approach it too much because it was cramped with police officers and press corps . It wasn’t a place where a normal high school student should enter in front of the public . Well, luckily, I wasn’t a normal high school student .
“Well then, with what should I start...”
I gazed at the crime scene while leaning against the wall near me . I ended up coming all the way here without coming up with any plan beforehand . The old man had his job to formally investigate the case, so we can’t be together now . Well, the result won’t change if he were with me anyway .
“I don’t think I will find out anything by randomly searching around like this...”
I activated my【Presence Detection】skill just in case, but I didn’t detect any unusual presence . The skill is normally used to get a rough grasp of the user’s surroundings and not to find out the exact location of a person . The place is brimming with people right now, so it won’t be very useful to find the criminal . The chance of the criminal still loitering around here is very low in the first place .
“I guess I have no choice but to create a new skill...”
That was the only option I had left, however, I was still against it . Creating a new skill consumes too much magic and I can only use it once . I honestly don’t want to waste my magic on something that lasts for only one use .
But this is the only option, it can’t be helped . Let’s do it...
Making my resolve, I started preparing to create a new skill when suddenly...
“Kyaaaaa!!!”
I heard a shriek coming from a nearby street . I promptly turned to the direction of the shriek and noticed a member of the press lifting a stepladder and looking down at someone falling on the ground . The stepladder was stained with a small amount of blood and everyone around the person holding it was taking a distance and directing at him their astonished gazes . Judging from the current situation, it looks like the reporter hit the other person with the stepladder .
But why out of the blue?
I wondered for a second before reaching an answer right away . The reporter is probably controlled by the murderer with skills .
“Hey! What on the Earth are you doing!?”
A police officer who noticed what happened approached the reporter who was lifting a stepladder and suddenly made his next move .
“Uwaaaa!!”
The reporter swung the stepladder on the police officer while screaming like a madman . The police officer who wasn’t expecting him to act violently got hit by the stepladder resulting in a dull sound coming from his head . The officer moved his hand on top of his head and stepped back while his surroundings got noisier .
Once he hit the officer, the reporter stopped moving again like a robot who halted functioning . He definitely doesn’t look normal . I mean, someone who hit people with a stepladder isn’t normal in the first place; but this reporter’s behavior was clearly strange . It felt like he was a marionette . I quickly observed the area to look for the criminal behind this and soon noticed someone acting suspiciously .
That guy, he’s grinning .
In the middle of a situation that should make people lose their composure, there was a single man who watched over the reporter with a broad grin as if he were enjoying a show . My intuition immediately informed that he was different from everyone else in this area . At the same time, the reporter got finally seized by the cops .
“U-Uwaaa!!”
“Stop moving!!”
“Come help me here!”
The reporter started struggling to escape while the officers desperately restrained him . The man who was watching over them with a grin turned around and left the place .
This guy... He’s way too suspicious .
With that belief in mind, I followed him . He kept walking straight for a while until he suddenly turned to the right . The place walked inside was an empty street . I followed him by turning right too and found him taking a daunting pose while waiting for me .
“What’s your problem? You’ve been following me for a while now . ”
Apparently, he noticed that I was following him at some point and asked me while revealing a displeased face . He was a man with ruffled hair and slightly dirty clothes . He didn’t seem to be the clean type . I kept quiet for a few seconds before replying to him .
“Um, I wasn’t intending to follow anyone . Maybe it’s just your imagination?”
Hearing my reply, the man gazed at me with doubting eyes .
So this is the skill holder murderer...
I casted my【Appraisal】skill on him to check his stats .
—– START OF STATS —–
« General Information »
Name: Shibata Michiru
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Level: 5
« Points »
Health Points: 480/480
Magic Points: 380/380
« Skills »
Hypnosis
—– END OF STATS —–
My doubts got confirmed the moment I appraised this man, Shibata Michiru . He was hiding the unique skill,【Hypnosis】 . I couldn’t believe my eyes at first when I realized that the so called metahumans do actually exist . Wasn’t the chance for someone appearing higher the one out of hundreds of millions?
Not only his skill surprised me, but even his level . The level of an individual doesn’t increase unless experience points are acquired . As for the way to acquire them, one needs to kill monsters and living creatures . The fact that his level is 5, means that he killed a considerable number of people . Most of humans on Earth are level 1, so a large number of them must be killed in order for him to reach level 5 .
Now that I made sure that this man is the murderer, I tried feigning ignorance with him .
“By the way, I saw you yesterday loitering near the crime scene of those two men . Could it perhaps be you who killed them?”
The moment he heard my question, Shibata flinched then frowned . He fixed his stare at me without speaking a word until he eventually scoffed .
“Ah, so you saw me, huh . That’s why you followed me all the way up here . Welp, I messed up . ”
It looks like he wasn’t intending to feign innocence as he readily admitted his crime while laughing . My first goal which is to find the criminal is thus reached . I sorted my goals and thoughts while gazing at Shibata who then started muttering in a low voice .
“Come to think of it . I never saw someone getting run over while riding a bike . ”
He glanced at my eyes and continued with the same low tone .
“Can you show it for me?”
He then ordered me to ride on the bike with a smirk on his face . Surely, there was no way I’d listen to him . I just ignored his order and remained standing in my place . Shibata looked stunned to see me still standing and let out a confused voice .
“Huh? D-Didn’t you hear me? Hurry up and get run over by a truck or something . ”
He attempted to order me a second time, but of course, no matter how many times he repeat sthe order, nothing will change . Shibata’s face started revealing his impatience as he repeatedly wondered to himself .
“Huh? Why? How...?”
“By the way, I forgot to tell you that your ability won’t work against me . ”
“How come!?”
My next line made him realize that his skill got found out and drove him to lose all his composure and start trembling . I already read the details of his【Hypnosis】skill in his stats . It won’t work against anyone who has higher stats than him . It only works on those who are either lower than him or have equivalent stats . Therefore, it will never work on me .
“Move! Move! Move!”
He repeated his order countless times, though I didn’t move from my place and kept watching him flustering . Since this is the first time he met someone who doesn’t obey his orders, Shibata couldn’t stop the feelings of fright and panic from controlling him as he made a few steps behind .
Guess it’s time to catch him...
I made one step forth .
“Damn it!”
The moment he saw me moving, he turned around and ran away with his utmost speed .
“Alright, stop right over there . ”
“Ghaa!!”
The instant he turned his back to me, I teleported near him and gave him a neck blow . He let out a short groan and fell down . This was a bit disappointing . I was expecting a skill holder to be at least stronger than this guy . Well, not that I’m complaining .
“Now, what am I going to do with him...?”
I didn’t prepare any plan for what to do next . He is indeed the murderer since he admitted it by himself, but there is no real proof . Even if the old man takes him to the police station, they won’t apprehend him unless he confesses . There’s no way they’d believe that he has a hypnosis skill and moreover, there isn’t any law that judges this type of people .
I can’t leave him here alone...
I worked my mind trying to come up with a good idea when all of a sudden...
“Hey . ”
I heard a voice from behind . Turning around, I saw a man wearing glasses glaring at me with sharp eyes . At first, I thought he was an ordinary person who saw Shibata laying flat on the ground and hastily tried to make an excuse .
“U-Um, wait! He’s just not unconscious...”
“You’re an ability holder too?”
“!?”
His next line indicated that I was wrong . That man wasn’t an ordinary person .
“Who are you?”
“I’m an acquaintance of that guy . I’m gonna have you hand him to me . ”
The moment he finished his words, the man disappeared . The next instant, I sensed his presence behind me . I promptly turned around and saw him touching Shibata who was lying on the ground .
“I will make you pay for what you did next time . ”
Leaving those words behind, the man disappeared for good this time . I was left alone in the empty street, feeling a bit dejected . I wasn’t expecting that there are two of them . I mean, come on, how can I except two existences that have a chance of one out hundreds of millions to appear? I made an excuse to myself while reflecting on my miss .
For now, at least I know the face of the criminal...
Cheering up myself, I went to look for the old man to report to him what happened .
——————————————————————–
Bonus
Skills .
“Skills...”
“What’s wrong, Saya? You have been spacing out too much today . ”
“I was just wondering what skill I would have if my ability were to bloom . ”
“What skill do you want to have?”
“Hmm, a skill that makes me even better at doing housework!”
“You already maxed that one . ”
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